Ex-Eagles Fan-Favorite 'Shocked' After Surprise Exit

The Philadelphia Eagles built the best defense in football in 2025 and one player who played a big role in that is safety CJ Gardner-Johnson.

He returned to Philadelphia after spending the 2023 season with the Detroit Lions. He had a great year with six interceptions and 59 total tackles. Gardner-Johnson was great en route to the Super Bowl, but the Eagles went in a different direction and traded him to the Houston Texan this offseason.

The move came as somewhat of a surprise and he said that he is "still shocked" about the move, as transcribed by NFL.com's Grant Gordon.

"To be honest with you, I'm still shocked, but I'm happy," Gardner-Johnson said. "New, fresh start, meet new guys. I think the biggest thing I've noticed is this team is very young. So, being one of the oldest guys in the room, you've got to realize we're here for business, here to have fun, but we're also here to win football. So, being around those guys, I kind of got a feel for them first couple of days and how to go about things here...

"I think it was a great move for me. I think it allowed me not to get too comfortable. People have to understand I was comfortable where I was at. It was easy. When I say easy, it was I had resources I could easily access, people I could just go talk to. I think moving here, being the older guy, I actually have to grow up. That's a funny statement, but growing up and teaching guys it's more than just football. Being traded multiple times, I think people would shadow it by the things I've done in the league. But in reality, I just love playing football."